hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

Very much enjoyed the video, he takes great care of his stuff, that is a very nice built plane!

ToolJoint

Repair underway on mine. Stripping the entire thing and recovering with Solartex would have been very cool, but I already had a roll of Ultracoat OD and being the cheapster that I am, I went with that. After complete tear down here is what I am looking at.

1. Fuselage - Damage limited to crack in firewall, and crack where starboard forward cabane attaches to fuelage. Fiber glass and epoxy re-enforced entire firewall and foward fuselage, weight not an issue. Cabane area re-enforced and repaired with a thin strip of fiberglass and epoxy. Both areas much stronger than before.

2. Lower wing - Trashed at root area, box spar and numerous ribs on both sides, repair not practical new wing arrived from Hobby Zone on Ebay...135 bones...(Ouch)

3. Upper wing - leading edge damaged or cracked in 3 places. removed, replaced and butressed. Replace or re-enforce several ribs, cut and rebuild LH tip, ready for covering. RH aileron awating cutting new tip, ribs, assembly...all ailerons will be re-attached using Robart hinges.

3. Rudder/vertical stab - No damage exept that incurred during removal for inspection, will re-attach using light fiberglass fillets.

3. Horizontal Stab. - Left side trashed. Rebuilding main spar, ribs and ply tip.

4. Elevator - Left side trashed rebuilding entire structure from reversed right side traced to paper....time consuming.

Any construction/repair tips appreciated.

TJ

ToolJoint

Things are really heating up with the German Push North of the Somme. All good lads must remember what we are fighting for, and every available Camel should be repaired and returned to battle...Including mine. There was alot of work involved with this rebuild...I went with a Red Cowl and wheels just because it seems that most pictures I have seen of Full Scale Camels involved a red cowl. I left the insides of the Wm. Bros. Wheels white to give it that sort of "battle field" look. There are also some inadvertent scuffs on the cowl where I had to remove some screws, but again...battle fatigue. I had a devil of a time rigging the tail, the clevises are difficult to adjust once in place, and it seemed the slightest pressure anywhere would warp the empanage. I also spent alot of time re-balancing and was able to remove the 455 olds engine block from the cowl area. I melted the shot put down and put it back though. Seriously, I was able to remove alot of weight as per MF's suggestion. It is balanced right at 4" per the manual and hangs just slightly nose-down now, where the nose used to hang about 5 degrees lower. Just like adding weight, you can do alot without really changing things to much with that short nose moment. I also ditched the dummy engine as it placed too much of a hinderence on the big Enya poking through. This also allowed me to increase the moment of weight placement, further reducing balancing weight.

Here's the thing....After all the work of this rebuild, and the horrible feeling I had after piling it up...I'm a little scared to fly it. I think I'll just let it hang in my shop for awhile, just to say "I have a fully assembled Camel, ready to go". It really is fun to stare at. For some reason, I can't post any pictures. As soon as I figure out what the deal is, I'll try to put some up.

Later,

TJ

ToolJoint

There we go, just had to resize.

ToolJoint

Hey Everybody,

I am happy to report that my Camel test flew perfectly. I was quite nervous to maiden her after the disaster and the rebuild, but it turns out my fears were for naught, she actually seems to fly better and straighter since the rebuild. Perhaps that is because I took the time to align, check and recheck all the angles, dihedral, CG, etc. I also think it flies better without so much weight in the nose as well. Also, I watched a video on YouTube about taming that nose over tendancy...one suggestion was moving the weight box from over the top of the motor to hanging down beside the cylinder head. I attached a couple of L brackets to the motor mount, and hung the weight down low in the cowl on those, I don't think it helped a whole lot as I still nosed over twice after this procedure. The only way I can keep it on its wheels is my leaving the power on until the plane is stopped...power at 1/3 all the way to touch down, wheel landing if possible...it is at this point I used to pull all power so she didn't want to fly again, but everytime I pulled power.....PLOOP- over she goes. By leaving power on, I think the wheels contact, plus all that inherent "biplane drag" slows it sufficiently to lower the tail, while still proving some propwash for a slight semblance of controllability on that little tail. I haven't nosed over yet using that technique...

She's been to two Fly-ins since the repair, both times to the claps of onlookers who enjoy the Camel mixing it up with a Balsa USA Taube in a WWI smack down. I can't quite turn inside him, but I always out climb him, then perform the classic scissor which to which there is no escape. Ha ha....great fun.

tree2tree

Good to hear of your success. You discovered the same thing I did about keeping the power after touchdown. (post # 1259) It does work.

ZedHead

Short video of my buddy "PigSticker" Paul's maiden flight takeoff and landing. No extra dead weight needed for balance as he powered it with a Saito 200R3 radial. Sweet sound and ample power. Overall he was quite happy with the plane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNc9WQETKo

ToolJoint

Great video ZedHead. That engine is an excellent fit in the Camel, and oh...the sound! Also, I like "PigSticker's" intensity and body language as he was bringing her in. Well done Man!

bribtb

Hi, i bought a Sopwith Camel second hand and i didn't get the main wing wires where is the best place to get them? I am planing on using a Dle 20 for this build so hopefully i will not need to put to much weight in the cowl.
What size tanks are people using?

Thanks in advance.
Brian

Bob dunlop

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Proctor Enterprises
http://www.proctor-enterprises.com/

DaddySam

My Feedback: (9)

You should be able to get the wire kit from Horizon, if they still have it. I use a DLE 30 in an aerobat and I have a 12 oz tank that never gets below half in most flights. I would think you could get by with an 8oz tank.

bribtb

How far is the cg back from the landing gear?

Thanks in advance.

brian

ToolJoint

Hey Brian,

Last summer, I had an extreme "dumb thumb" which led to an extensive rebuild. For flying wires I used Sig control line flying wire. It is good stuff with a very tight lay and is easy to work with. Instead of the usual attachments I wrapped the wire around the tops of the cabanes and outer struts eliminating the sharp cutting edges of the factory tabs. The wires are secured by crimping very small pieces of brass tube cut into 1/2" pieces. LHS wanted $11 apiece for miniature turnbuckles, so mine are simply ball link ends joined by a 4-40 all thread. They are not true turnbuckles as the thread runs the same way for it's entire length, so you have to have your wire lengths fairly close to begin with, to avoid twisting of one side of the wires, but even then, the Sig wire does not come unraveled. They say flying wires are cosmetic only, but I am sure my rigging adds strength and rigidity to the airframe, as when they are installed and snugged properly, nothing moves, and re tightening the strut and cabane bolts is much less frequent, though I still check them every 3 or 4 flights. The CG is taken from the top wing, and has been well documented here previously in a few hundred posts, read them and live by them. Proper CG and landing technique are probably the two most important factors for continued enjoyment of flying your Camel. This airplane in my opinion is one of the finest designs in RC aviation.

bribtb

Maiden my Camel yesterday with a Dle 20 in it does not need much throttle to fly scale. I did need to add some left aileron and it wanted to go right on landings but I a using a tail wheel.

Brian

ToolJoint

Brian,

Great News! Well, tell us what you think...how'd she fly? Did you nose over on landing? How'd she balance with the 20 in it? Do tell.

Great Looking Camel.

bribtb

[QUOTE=ToolJoint;11728577]Brian,

Great News! Well, tell us what you think...how'd she fly? Did you nose over on landing? How'd she balance with the 20 in it? Do tell.

Great Looking
She flies really nice I had 2 nose overs from not being use to a reverse landings and a couple from taxing from going off-road during taxiing . Today I had 6 perfect landings . I put 5 ounces of lead shot in the bottom of the cowling 8 ounces on the firewall my ignition and both batteries are on where the battery box was. I am using the Sullivan tailwheel so I think I needed a little more weight upfront. It sounds really good up in the air.

Brian
http://youtu.be/4gp0m5-nGOw

ToolJoint

Brian,

How sweet is that? I have to say, I am a little jealous of the gasser up front...I thought I was going to go all gas myself, but I just bought a Great Planes P6E all ready to go all up with a Saito 150 upfront. So, he and the Camel will keep me buying Glow fuel for a while yet. You are apparently a faster learner than I am on the landings...it took me a while to get it down and frankly still not sure I can pull it off everytime...it's a hard habit to get into bringing it a little fast with power...but when done properly, no problem. It's funny...the Camel gets quite a bit of attention at Fly-ins, and I've nosed it over in front of people there and the "Old Salts" always nod their heads and say things like..."Yup that's WWI for ya" and "Never seen a Camel not do that". But when I stick it...well then I am quite the hero...Ha..perhaps in my own mind.

I also must say that tail wheel sure got things in order on the ground...with the skid, even after a non-nose over landing, it is still kind of a rodeo until the plane stops and then the taxi is a strange dance of power blips, and large elevator and rudder gyrations...still pretty fun and with the Enya sans Muffler in mine I would like to imagine it is a pretty accurate rendition of the real thing...everyone seems to enjoy that part of the show also.

Since you put up the cool video, I'll repost a link to one I made a few months ago. It may be a little corny, and it's definitely too long but may I present to you what WWI may have looked like had it occured over my hometown....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUeGvlXKWzc

bribtb

I am still using the original wheels but I did the electrical tape around them to give less traction on the ground. I am going all gas and selling my nitro engines. You can't beat pump price with oil.

Brian

ToolJoint

Hey Guys,

Winter finally broke here in N.E. Wyoming, and the snow drifts have melted enough to dodge on the runway. I've had the Camel out for 4 flights now, each with a successful landing and no nose over...the key (with my set up anyway) is as Tree 2 Tree says...POWER ON wheel landings....gotta keep the airflow on the tail to set her down. Looking for a great flying season.


Keith

bribtb

After about 110 flights I finally broke my landing gear right at the fuselage . Just wondering if anybody has any laying around that I could buy?

Thanks, Brian

ToolJoint

Brian,

Bummer about the landing gear. I pranged mine pretty good in a gusty crosswind the other day...but thank goodness they didn't break. Good luck in the search. You may have to make some yourself.

ToolJoint

The weather here has been atrocious with snow, rain, and my personal favorite: High Wind We have managed a few flights though.


And of course, here is what happens when you get too slow on short final...just when you think you have it down...expertly captured by Randy Fowler of Fowler Flying Photos.

bribtb

I like the red on the wheels. Here's a few of mine.

ToolJoint

Brian,
Love the flying pics...that particular photo reminds me that I am still a little envious of the gasser up front, especially when I fork over another 25 bones for a gallon of 15%. Hey, where's your pilot?

bribtb

I do like paying $4.00 plus oil and I don't need to clean the plane of oil . I do have pictures with the pilot but been lazy and haven't downloaded them from my email. An old guy at our field takes great pictures. I am working on fixing my landing gear with bending a new piece of metal rod .

Brian